


Expectations and Capabilities

by xoxoMouse



Series: PJO Future AU <3 [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: ? - Freeform, Angst, Baby OC - Freeform, Because she's classy, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence, Fathers Day, Fluff, Future Fic, I have plans for her to show up more later so I figured I'd just give her a tag now, M/M, Maria di Angelo II, PJOverse, Spence's pjo future fics, The Baby's name is Maria, but I can't tag this with Maria di Angelo bc then ppl will think its his mother, but technically it is also, canonverse, dads, so her official tag will be:, soft, solangelo, they are adopting a child of Hades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoxoMouse/pseuds/xoxoMouse
Summary: Nico never wanted to have children of his own, but when an orphaned child of Hades comes into his care he can't bring himself to leave her in the custody of their mercurial father.(Written for Day 1 of Solangeloweek 2020, Father's Day)
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: PJO Future AU <3 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884103
Comments: 7
Kudos: 68
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	Expectations and Capabilities

Nico di Angelo never wanted to be a father. He never wanted to repeat the upbringing he’d been subjected to with a child of his own. He didn’t want any child he might have to be at the mercy of his misfortune, the fate that seemed to follow him because of his own parentage. Besides, demigods die early. He never expected to make it to eighteen, let alone his late twenties. He didn’t know how many years he had left, he was living already on borrowed time. He doubted he’d get the chance to experience the luxury of old age and the idea of leaving orphans turned his stomach. With two demigod fathers, the chances of that increased tenfold. 

When Percy and Annabeth had adopted their child years ago, it made the conversation he needed to have with Will bubble to the surface all the more quickly. They were 19, off to New Rome soon for college and to live on their own for the first time ever. They’d been together for a couple of years now and it hadn’t come up yet but Nico didn’t see them breaking up anytime soon. The anxiety he’d felt then was a distant memory, but the memory was still clear. 

_He_ _couldn’t_ _ignore it anymore, the possibility they might have kids one day nipped away at him until he finally broke down and said it._

_“_ _Doyouwanttohavekidswithme_ _?”_ _He asked all in one breath. Will stared at him so_ _dumbfounded_ _that he had to check that he_ _hadn’t_ _said it in Italian. “Will?”_

_Will shook off his surprise and took the pan of scrambled eggs_ _off of_ _the hotplate in cabin 13, setting it to the side. “Oh, holy shit, huh?_ _We’re_ _doing this? Okay, cool_ _cool_ _cool_ _.” Wil ran his hands through his hair, sticking it up all weird. “Why don’t we, uh, sit down for this.”_

_Nico joined him on his_ _bunk_ _, twisting his skull ring nervously._

_Will’s eyes were owl-wide and his eyebrows were pulled together in worry. “Are you pregnant?”_

_Nico rolled his eyes. “No.”_

_He slumped in relief. “Thank God. I can’t be a dad right now.”_

_“But do you want to be a dad?” Nico prodded. “Ever?”_

_Will frowned. “I don’t know._ _I’ve_ _thought about it. Some things about it seem nice and then I think about being a_ _father._ _I never had one growing up and then when I met him...” He took Nico’s hand in his ow_ _n_ _to stop the anxious ring twisting. “It’s scary. I_ _don’t_ _know. I_ _don’t_ _want to have a kid and then be absent because of work or be more like a cool roommate than a caregiver. I love my mom so much but sometimes_ _that’s_ _what it felt like. I don’t know how to do it right.”_

_Nico sighed. “Me neither.”_

_“Do you?” He asked. “Do you want kids one day? We can learn. Percy and Annabeth never wanted to have them either but...shit happens.”_

_“I don’t want kids. I_ _don’t_ _want children who never asked to live this life to be in danger because of me._ _You’re_ _already in more danger because_ _I’m_ _a child of Hades and you_ _reek_ _of me. I_ _don’t_ _want our_ _kids_ _to deal with that too. You can take care of yourself but our kid...”_

_“Sunshine...”_

_“We’re never safe, Will. Our kid would never be safe. They’d be damned from the very first breath.”_

_Will squeezed Nico’s hand between both of his own. “Then we’ll never have them._ _It’s_ _our choice, Nico. They’ll never be in danger because we’ll never have them.”_

That’s what they’d decided all those years ago. Almost a decade later and Nico hadn’t second-guessed their decision once. That is until they were on an errand for Hades. Until he was shadow traveling them home, Will covered in blood and Nico clutching a screaming, red-faced baby to his chest. 

It was almost amusing how he and Will had been together for most of their lives and Will hadn’t met his father until the night they adopted their daughter. They didn’t know yet that they would take her home to raise her; at that point, they were just delivering Hades’ latest spawn to him in the underworld so he could figure out what to do with her. She was a newborn, after all, it’s not like they could drop her off at camp. 

Logically a demigod couldn’t overpower a god. They were so much less powerful, with just a fraction of the strength the Olympians had. But Nico could have had ichor on his hands if he’d let his emotions overtake him that night when he heard what Hades was suggesting. 

“Asphodel?” Nico roared. He passed the calm, oblivious baby off to Will and took a step forward. “You’d just leave her to the fields? She’s an infant!” 

“Now, Nico, don’t be unreasonable,” hades said. “The fields are sedating. She’ll never grow, yes, but it’s hardly as though she’ll notice. For her, it will be one long, lazy afternoon. She’ll be content.” 

“Like Bianca and I were in the Lotus Hotel?” He asked. “Tell me, did you store us there because you were saving us from our fate or because you were waiting for the time when you could inflict your own rule on our lives?” 

He didn’t answer. The souls in his robes writhed and thrashed and opened their mouths in silent wails within the confines of the cloth. For all Nico knew, maybe that’s where all the children of Hades before him resided, under the tight lock and key of their father for the rest of eternity. 

“We could turn her into a sunflower,” Persephone suggested. “Her beautiful brown eyes are just the color of the seeds in the middle when the flowers are at full bloom. And her skin is such a warm toned brown—it reminds me of Summer. It’d be such a good fit.” 

Hades seemed to be considering it. Nico had been a plant several times in his life and the fact that the possibility of doing the same to the baby was on the table was appalling. 

“No, no,” hades said. “That won’t satisfy him either.” He mulled the situation over for a moment more and an air of enlightenment settled on his features. “We could keep her in the Palace. Would that make you happy, Nico?” he asked. “Alecto will raise her until she’s old enough to begin training. Yes! Finally, the chance to have the perfect child. Maybe by the time the next great prophecy is announced, she'll be prepared to fulfill it.” 

The very idea of that happening horrified Nico. He remembered the sentiment his father had expressed to him years ago, just before the Battle of Manhattan, just after he’d broken his promises. His promise to tell Nico about his mortal family, his promise not to hurt Percy Jackson, the promises he so easily crushed by his self-serving nature. ‘ _It would’ve been better if Bianca had lived.’_ Life with Hades would be an endless trail of broken promises and crushed dreams if she stayed. 

He couldn’t let this little girl grow up with Hades for a father when he knew what little time the Lord of the Dead actually spent filling the role would be detrimental to her and nothing but a selfish investment for him. Growing up in the palace would be a fate worse than death. 

“No. I’m keeping her.” 

Hades looked down on him from his throne in disbelief. “Pardon?” 

He returned to Will’s side and took his hand in preparation for their departure. “It doesn’t even matter if you let her grow up here—she would never be _loved.”_ He regarded his father with a sneer. “You don’t even deserve the chance to try.” 

And the worst part? Every one of his assumptions was proved true when the almighty Lord of the Underworld did nothing to stop him from leaving. 

So without any warning and no time to prepare for her, the two of them had a daughter. They’d never planned for it but...shit happens. 

Will sighed shakily after they finally got her to sleep, swaddled tightly in a fluffy towel so she couldn’t roll off of the bed. They didn’t have any baby blankets—or diapers. So it was a good call. “She’ll be fine for the night but first thing tomorrow we have to take her to New Rome General. Get her papers, have one of the pediatrics do a checkup and clear her to come home with us officially.” 

Nico nodded, reaching over their daughter to grab Will’s hand like a lifeline. 

Will tried his best to make his smile reassuring. With his other hand He stroked the baby’s head, surprisingly full of downy soft black hair. “What’s her name?” 

Nico took a moment to consider it. He didn’t know that the baby was coming. He didn’t get the chance to know her mother or what name she had picked out for her daughter. He had no idea that his father had gotten another woman pregnant since the oath of the Big Three gods was dissolved after the second Titan war—for all he knew this might not even be the first one he’d sired since then, maybe just the first one Nico had found. Hades sent the two of them to her apartment because she wouldn’t go to the hospital for fear of being attacked by monsters along the way. By the time they got there, it was too late for Will to save her. Nico would learn his daughter’s history; he would find a way to make sure she got the chance to know where and who she came from. But his family was hers now, too. That was part of taking her in. 

“Maria,” He said into the silence. “Her name is Maria.” 

Will nodded. “Like your mother?” 

“Yes. Hades was never able to get his hands on my mother. I hope the same luck extends to her.” 

Will squeezed his hand once, twice, three times. “I think it already has.” 

So, no, Nico di Angelo never _wanted_ to be a father. He never thought he could pull it off. But if you could ask his daughter, I think she’d tell you that we are all capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for. 


End file.
